A Long Way to Go!

Whenever guests come to my house, I try to slink away. Don't get me wrong. It is not that I dislike guests, but on such occasions, Mother almost always sends me to the sweet shop to buy sweets for the guests. Now, if the sweet shop were nearby I would willingly walk that distance, but the fact is that the shop is very far from my house and, since I don't have a bicycle, I have to walk all that distance. I am a frail fellow and hate all kinds of physical exercises.

Well, we had guests last Sunday and mother wanted me to go and buy some sweets. I had to go. Mother sounded me to return early. I bought the sweets and returned home. But I was late; the guests had left! Mother glared at me and said something about fellows not capable of discharging their responsibilities.

I was hurt. While returning back, I had walked some distance and then, realising I would be late, had run the rest of the distance. Now let me tell you that I run three times as fast as I walk. I had walked twice the time I had run. Using this strategy, I had reached home in 21 minutes. Yet I was late! Was it my fault?

I was wondering how long it would have taken me to reach home from the shop if I had run twice as long as I had walked. Can you help me work this out? Let me list the important facts:

1. While returning home, I had walked some distance and ran rest of the distance.

2. I ran three times as fast as I walked.

3. I had walked twice the time I had run.

4. It took me 21 minutes to reach home.

The question is, how long would it have taken me to reach home if I had run twice as long as I had walked?





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